Bob.Mack@jacksonville.com Patty Jimenez, communications manager of Visit Jacksonville, said the organization will send representatives to London this year when the Jaguars play there in hopes of attracting more Europeans to visit places like Jacksonville Beach.

Bob.Mack@jacksonville.com Opportunities to enjoy the sun and surf will be high on the list of reasons for Europeans to visit Northeast Florida.

Orlando and South Florida have long been the big players in international travel, but First Coast tourism officials are no longer willing to sit on the sidelines.

Richard Goldman, vice president of the St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra & the Beaches Visitors and Convention Bureau, said his organization is focusing on attracting European travelers who are already heading to the Orlando area.

“The input that we had over the last year or so about tour operators was that they’re looking to expand their Orlando visits,” said Goldman. “They’re looking for new things for their customers to do when they’re here, because Europeans in particular tend to stay a little longer once they made the commitment to fly all the way over.”

Goldman said that belief was reinforced when he attended the International Pow Wow, a huge tourism industry convention in Las Vegas in early June that about 6,000 people attended. Goldman and his associates talked to about 45 tourism operators based in Europe, and he said the push is on to piggyback trips to North Florida for those visitors heading to Central Florida.

“The work that was done this June will start to show up next year,” Goldman said, adding that he’s focusing on Germany, France and the United Kingdom. “The Europeans … tend to work with travel agents or tour operators and we have to reach out to those folks. The good news, that’s a whole lot cheaper than having to buy advertising.”

Jacksonville’s international exposure will also be boosted by the Jaguars’ October trip to London to play the San Francisco 49ers.

“With the Jags going to London this year and their four-year deal in London, we are taking Jacksonville on the road sort of internationally,” said Patty Jimenez, communication manager for Visit Jacksonville. “You’ll see us promote that event and have a presence in that area so hopefully next year you’ll see a big impact.”

Jimenez acknowledged the European market has been largely ignored in terms of serious marketing by Jacksonville tourism officials.

She said while the push for domestic visitors will remain intact, the Jaguars trips to London provide a new opportunity.

“The UK is the third top international market when it comes to visitation in Florida. One-point-five million British visitors came in 2012 to the state; that is a large market that we at Visit Jacksonville want to capture,” Jimenez said, adding that Visit Jacksonville will run a series of promotions and advertisements in London during the Jaguars’ visit.

Such marketing campaigns have been fruitful in the domestic market: According to Smith Travel Research Inc., St. Johns County’s occupancy rate jumped from 52.1 percent in 2009 to 59.6 percent as of April while Duval County’s occupancy rate jumped from 53 percent to 61.2 percent during the same period.

The next step in tourism growth is to market to the foreign traveler, said University of North Florida marketing professor Adel El-Ansary.

He’s impressed with the efforts of both Visit Jacksonville and the St. Johns County tourism officials.

“Jacksonville is not a destination,” El-Ansary said. “You have to start with the notion of awareness to begin with. … The second issue is to create interest.”

The Jaguar game in London alone will create some interest along with the team’s owner Shad Khan agreeing to purchase the Fulham Football Club, a soccer team in London. Those actions should bolster an awareness of Jacksonville.

El-Ansary said Jacksonville’s presence in London “is a matter now of having to combine these efforts to create a brand.”

Jimenez said Visit Jacksonville officials will be in London for the game at Wembley Stadium.

While Jimenez said the primary focus will be on visitors coming to Jacksonville from the United Kingdom, the game in London will almost certainly open up exposure to other areas of Europe.

Also, if Istanbul hadn't shut down the spice routes, French tourists would have no reason to come to north Florida because there would nit have been a settlement at St Johns Bluff, a Cosmo suburb...hehehehe